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Other Rumblings

Detroit was represented among the dignitaries attending President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative announced at the White House on Thursday.

More than $200 million from 10 foundations across the country, including the Battle Creek-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will fund efforts to find and spread solutions to problems facing boys and young men of color.

Tonya Allen, president and CEO of the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation, attended the announcement as a member of the Executives' Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color, a group of local, regional and national foundations.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also attended.

The foundation money will aid the initiative's effort to improve things such as early childhood development, parenting, literacy, educational opportunities, criminal justice system interactions and economic opportunity, according to the White House.

Obama signed a presidential memorandum creating the My Brother's Keeper Task Force, which will determine the impact of federal policies, regulations and programs on boys and men of color, as well as incentives for adopting strategies that provide opportunities to them, according to the White House.

"This act complements the work of many regional foundations like the Skillman Foundation in Detroit that have executed this agenda because of the urgent and pertinent needs in our communities," Allen said in a statement. "Investing in this work can show great returns. For example, investments over the last eight years have increased graduation rates for African-American and Hispanic boys in Detroit."

John Roach, Duggan's spokesman, said the mayor would like to replicate here a Chicago program aimed at decreasing dropout rates and violence.